Keely Hodgkinson produced a season's best time of 1:56.38 but finished just +0.08 behind winner Athing Mu of the USA; Mary Moraa from Kenya took the bronze medal on the final day of the Championships in Oregon
Monday 25 July 2022 07:27, UK
Keely Hodgkinson secured a silver medal in the 800m for Great Britain on the final day of the World Athletics Championships in Oregon.
Hodgkinson, a silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympic Games, ran a season's best time of 1:56.38 in the final and was just eight hundredths behind winner Athing Mu.
Hodgkinson went into the home straight closing on Mu, after the Olympic champion had made her move with around 200m to go. Although Mu left a gap on the inside, the American used her long stride to just keep the Brit at bay.
Hodgkinson's silver medal adds further to the great success of Britain's middle-distance athletes at the World Athletics Championships, after Jake Wightman's gold medal in the 1500m and Laura Muir's bronze over the same distance.
Hodgkinson and Mu are no strangers to major final duels after doing so in Tokyo. On that occasion, Mu finished +0.67 ahead of the British 20-year-old and being edged out again, Hodgkinson is determined to reverse the positions on the next occasion.
"I gave it everything," Hodgkinson said trackside to the BBC. "So, close. I was a lot closer than I was last year so I'm grateful to be on a world podium and in a world final healthy and being able to fight all the way. But, I am a bit gutted.
"To say that I'm gutted having won a medal shows how far I've come but I've got more to work on. There's a World Champs next year, so I can't dwell too much.
I’m satisfied but not overjoyed. I’m a little disappointed that I missed out on gold by 0.08 which is tiny margins that I’ve worked so hard to close but I’ll take the positives.
"It definitely adds fuel to the fire," the 20-year-old continued. "I'll just go away now and we've still got more championships so I've got to refocus for that. I'll celebrate also, as well as still going for more."
The women's 4 x 400m relay team of Victoria Ohuruogu, Nicole Yeargin, Jessie Knight and Laviai Nielsen concluded the Championships by winning a bronze medal.
The quartet's medal ensured Great Britain matched their overall medal tally of seven from Beijing in 2015 and Moscow in 2013.
Cindy Sember finished fifth in the women's 100m hurdles, with Jazmin Sawyers and Lorraine Ugen taking ninth and 10th respectively in the women's long jump. Marc Scott finished in 14th position in his first World Championship final over 5000m.
Gold: Jake Wightman - 1500m
Silver: Keely Hodgkinson - 800m
Bronze: Laura Muir - 1500m
Bronze: Dina Asher-Smith - 200m
Bronze: Matt Hudson-Smith - 400m
Bronze: Men - 4x100m relay
Bronze: Women - 4x400m Relay
The World Athletics Championships marks the start of a busy year of competitions, which includes both the Commonwealth Games and the European Championships.
The athletics action at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham starts on the road with the marathons on Saturday, July 30. Then, the action on the track commences on Tuesday, August 2.
The first round of the women's 800m is one of the events on that first day, alongside the men's 100m and the beginning of the heptathlon competition.
